RDR2 PC First Story Impressions

[Jimbatron]

On 11/15/2019 at 3:02 AM, RedIndianRobin said:

I've finished crafting the Legendary Satchel and boy what a grind! But it was worth it in the end. I can carry 99 of anything. It's like Hermione's bag in Harry Potter.  

 

Now to do some challenges and then I will proceed doing side missions and missions in Chapter 3.

Having done 3 play-throughs, 2 to 100%, and on my third, I am convinced there is huge value in getting this as early as possible in chapter 2 (as soon as you have the buck antler trinket).

[RedIndianRobin]

1 hour ago, Jimbatron said:

Having done 3 play-throughs, 2 to 100%, and on my third, I am convinced there is huge value in getting this as early as possible in chapter 2 (as soon as you have the buck antler trinket).

Yeah life is so easy for Arthur. Basically you have unlimited tonics and provisions.

[Ghetzi]

I just check RGL and was shocked to see I've got 62h32m in RDR2 so far and am still only in Chapter 3, lol.  Some of that was due to getting the graphic settings optimized, but that's still a lot.  This is my first time playing and I managed to avoid spoilers so I'm taking my time as many have advised.  Just crafted the Legend Satchel of the East - man, getting the perfect panther skin I needed was a blast.  Got the cougar skin I needed by accident while hunting the Legendary Buck.  Sucker was stalking me and I picked him off in a desperate attempt to not die.  Got a perfect black bear skin on the trip, as well, only to find out you can't carry them both.  Argh!  I love hunting, so no big deal.

 

I love Arthur.  He's definitely my favorite character.  Going the white hat route this play through, it just seems to fit him.  They did a fantastic job with the characters and I'm really immersed in the story, side quests and random encounters included.  There's still plenty of the map behind the fog, so many hours ahead.  It was great to see John...this is all going to end in tears, I know it.  Best thing I did was once I got the graphic settings optimized as much as possible, I shut down the RTSS OSD and just let the myself get into it.  This game was completely worth the wait!

[_SMOKEY_]

1 hour ago, Ghetzi said:

I just check RGL and was shocked to see I've got 62h32m in RDR2 so far and am still only in Chapter 3, lol.  Some of that was due to getting the graphic settings optimized, but that's still a lot.  This is my first time playing and I managed to avoid spoilers so I'm taking my time as many have advised.  Just crafted the Legend Satchel of the East - man, getting the perfect panther skin I needed was a blast.  Got the cougar skin I needed by accident while hunting the Legendary Buck.  Sucker was stalking me and I picked him off in a desperate attempt to not die.  Got a perfect black bear skin on the trip, as well, only to find out you can't carry them both.  Argh!  I love hunting, so no big deal.

 

I love Arthur.  He's definitely my favorite character.  Going the white hat route this play through, it just seems to fit him.  They did a fantastic job with the characters and I'm really immersed in the story, side quests and random encounters included.  There's still plenty of the map behind the fog, so many hours ahead.  It was great to see John...this is all going to end in tears, I know it.  Best thing I did was once I got the graphic settings optimized as much as possible, I shut down the RTSS OSD and just let the myself get into it.  This game was completely worth the wait!

if I recall correctly I believe you can drop one of the pelts, then come back and retrieve it later on without it despawning. Not 100% sure but I recall seeing a few dropped pelts of mine a few times.

[wasd]

3 hours ago, Ghetzi said:

I just check RGL and was shocked to see I've got 62h32m in RDR2 so far and am still only in Chapter 3, lol.  Some of that was due to getting the graphic settings optimized, but that's still a lot.  This is my first time playing and I managed to avoid spoilers so I'm taking my time as many have advised.  Just crafted the Legend Satchel of the East - man, getting the perfect panther skin I needed was a blast.  Got the cougar skin I needed by accident while hunting the Legendary Buck.  Sucker was stalking me and I picked him off in a desperate attempt to not die.  Got a perfect black bear skin on the trip, as well, only to find out you can't carry them both.  Argh!  I love hunting, so no big deal.

 

I love Arthur.  He's definitely my favorite character.  Going the white hat route this play through, it just seems to fit him.  They did a fantastic job with the characters and I'm really immersed in the story, side quests and random encounters included.  There's still plenty of the map behind the fog, so many hours ahead.  It was great to see John...this is all going to end in tears, I know it.  Best thing I did was once I got the graphic settings optimized as much as possible, I shut down the RTSS OSD and just let the myself get into it.  This game was completely worth the wait!

im still in chapter 3 lol

[RedIndianRobin]

3 hours ago, Ghetzi said:

I just check RGL and was shocked to see I've got 62h32m in RDR2 so far and am still only in Chapter 3, lol. 

RGSC time tracking is broken af. The launcher says I have 100+ hours but RGSC says I have only 2 days 12 hours.

[Xerukal]

Still in awe at how well every single character in the camp is done. I've already seen many interactions on PS4, but there's so many new ones I never noticed before on my second run now. 

 

I catch myself smiling and laughing along with some of the dialogue/interactions. Especially between Arthur and Lenny, or Hosea. Such an amazing cast. Even the scumbags like Micah and Strauss. I hate 'em, but I love hating them. 

Edited November 23, 2019 by Xerukal

[cp1dell]

After GTA V's lackluster cast, people thought that Rockstar couldn't do a good story, characters, singleplayer etc. anymore. This proved otherwise.

 

Still pretty odd though V turned out the way it did compared to IV, RDR, and RDR2. Did they just put more effort into RDR2? Was V rushed? Was it problems with having to alter the story after Lamar's actor was arrested?

[RedIndianRobin]

17 minutes ago, Xerukal said:

Especially between Arthur and Lenny,

LENNNYYYYYYYYYYYY!! God I loved that mission

 

1 minute ago, cp1dell said:

Still pretty odd though V turned out the way it did compared to IV, RDR, and RDR2. Did they just put more effort into RDR2? Was V rushed? Was it problems with having to alter the story after Lamar's actor was arrested?

I too thought of the same. GTA V's story was mediocre at best. RDR 2 could be my favorite story in a video game I've every played. It's honestly surprising to me too after GTA V's trash story.

[Xerukal]

I don't think GTA V's story was that bad, RDR2 is just more mature. It has different themes, and is more sincere with its characters. Even the satire is done way better, and you are rarely (if ever) beaten over the head with too much wackiness.

 

I prefer this way of doing things, personally. Characters that aren't just punchlines to whatever joke Rockstar is telling at the time, but real people that you spend so much time with, they feel like someone you've known for years. I hope they carry this approach over into GTA at least to a certain extent. Pull back on the cynicism and shock-value satire just a little, so that the main characters can actually breathe. 

Edited November 23, 2019 by Xerukal

[Spider-Vice]

To me RDR2 reveals Rockstar has an impressive unexplored skill to make serious stories without the wackiness from GTA, and I wish they'd explore that even deeper with a new IP or even a new installment of an existing IP. RDR2 is their best story pretty much ever for me.

 

I think they could even respectfully tackle certain subjects like games like Life is Strange and others do. I'd love to see other serious games from Rockstar tbh.

[Xerukal]

I really liked Michael and Trevor in V. I felt their history and relationship had a lot of depth that could've been explored. Especially Trevor, I felt like he could've been explored more beyond the surface-level crazy persona he seems to put on due to years of sustained mental and emotional trauma (as Michael sometimes points out).

 

But a lot of that sh*t took a backseat to the zaniness, which in retrospect (and especially after RDR2), did not have enough substance to warrant the trade-off. Franklin was also kind of pointless in the grand scheme of things. 

 

I remember when people were skeptical about Arthur being good enough to fill John's shoes, pre-release. How things have changed. I truly believe he's one of, if not the best and most fully realized videogame protagonists so far. If you take into account the amount of time you spend with him overall, the bond the game creates between you and him, through both gameplay and story... it's pretty insane.

 

It makes me understand why they chose to make things so slow, and sometimes very tedious. Skinning, travelling, physically interacting with everything. It can get a bit old, but man does it do wonders for grounding you in the world. It subconsciously influences you into feeling more attachment to everything, and thus makes all of the emotional payoff so much stronger. 

 

 

[cp1dell]

@Xerukal

Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed V's story, and Michael's small arc/focus. But like you said, a lot of stuff wasn't explored and took a back seat. There was plenty of stuff undeveloped. The story and character development was there, but something definitely happened and I want to believe it had to do with Lamar's actor being arrested and him not being around to record/film his original parts. Especially if you've ever heard the original cut of when Trevor first arrives to Michael's house. It really seemed more in line with Dan Houser's description of "being able to play as the antagonist, and the role reversals of who really is the bad guy in all of this?" There is definitely a shift in things once Trevor reaches LS. His character is pretty different compared to what we see of him in Sandy Shores at first.

 

And yeah, I too thought it would be hard to top John with Arthur, but damn what a great story and character. Seriously one of my favorite stories and game alongside the Max Payne series.

[roe]

Most impressive thing about Red Dead 2's story is how long it is and how it mostly holds that quality throughout it.

 

Rockstar could've easily delivered a story half as long as they did and sold just as many copies.

[GTAhare]

Honestly I would be surprised if GTA 6 will be as good as Red Dead Redemption 2. GTA 5 was great but RDR2 is so much more. The story, atmosphere, and details, as GTA will obviously have to have a larger map it’ll be harder for the map in that game to feel as immersive, and it’ll definitely be harder to make a full-blown city feel as real as small towns with having to cover a lot more area. I’m excited for GTA 6 but I think Rockstar’s living and breathing worlds philosophy works better with smaller maps with small towns as a full-blown city is much harder.

[Candy_Licker]

On 11/23/2019 at 4:56 PM, cp1dell said:

After GTA V's lackluster cast, people thought that Rockstar couldn't do a good story, characters, singleplayer etc. anymore. This proved otherwise.

 

Still pretty odd though V turned out the way it did compared to IV, RDR, and RDR2. Did they just put more effort into RDR2? Was V rushed? Was it problems with having to alter the story after Lamar's actor was arrested?

 

I think it lacked from the 3 character setup. While it was a great idea, it didn't work out really well in practice. Didn't help that V only had 69 (?) missions, significantly less than San Andreas, IV and RDR2 and it shows.

GTA V certainly can't have been rushed (look how long it was in development), I really think it has sth. to do with GTA Online. It feels like they went 08/15 with the story and focussed more on Online.

[Officer Friendly]

I was roaming the Northern Grizzlies looking for sheep and wolf pelts, and on a late snowy evening I hear a wolf howl. I slowly crouched forward and pulled out the binoculars, I sit there watching the wolf howl away at the brightly lit moon. It did so for several minutes, it seemed normal at first but this was different, it howled faintly with each breath, and so I decided investigate. I managed to scare it off, yet this wolf fierce in making it's stance. Finally with the wolf gone it looked like something was laying at its feet. Then it hit me. The wolf was mourning its partner laying there dead in the snow.

 

Makes you feel sad, does it not? It's the quite moments like these that can immerse you more than any story.

 

Not a story impression, just thought I would share.

Edited December 3, 2019 by Officer Friendly

[Spider-Vice]

6 hours ago, Officer Friendly said:

I was roaming the Northern Grizzlies looking for sheep and wolf pelts, and on a late snowy evening I hear a wolf howl. I slowly crouched forward and pulled out the binoculars, I sit there watching the wolf howl away at the brightly lit moon. It did so for several minutes, it seemed normal at first but this was different, it howled faintly with each breath, and so I decided investigate. I managed to scare it off, yet this wolf fierce in making it's stance. Finally with the wolf gone it looked like something was laying at its feet. Then it hit me. The wolf was mourning its partner laying there dead in the snow.

 

Makes you feel sad, does it not? It's the quite moments like these that can immerse you more than any story.

 

Not a story impression, just thought I would share.

Holy sh*t this game lol.

[kubon352]

Just finished the main story. Man, what a journey! I'll remember for long Arthur's last ride to camp or John's proposal.

It would be beautiful, if Rockstar decided to remake RDR on RDR2 engine as a DLC or something like that.

After epilogue and end credits, it seems so natural to continue Marston's story.

Edited December 3, 2019 by Gwozdek

[X_MasterDave_X]

Well i loved GTA5 and the Story around the 3 Characters. Was the best story game played until then. As a PC Player i didnt knew RDR1, and startet now with RDR2. I didnt got very warm with GTA3 or 4. Especially the main Actor in 4, i never liked him. RDR2 is great at Storytelling, and the world feels so alive. Everywere running squirels and wild animals. Just great. Also best look at a wide landscape. Impressed me heavily, since the old times of Skyrim in 2011. About the rest of the graphics, RDR2 is not the best that happened before. If you want so see awesome faces try Assassins Creed Odyssey. Alexos Face, and all the Millions of Cutszenes in a bit better engine Grapics were just awesome. The main Story Characters in RDR2 look also great, but most others in the game, look terrible. Look at those butchers or most of the dealers....looks like a 2010 Engine.

 

 

About the end of the story:

 

Spoiler

Loved how they let Arthur die, and how the Story went to John....as RDR2 is the prequel to RDR1 that i never played. At the end i didnt liked the fact that i couldnt kill Dutch. Usually a good Guy going bad, and then good again at the end, gets a kill in any hollywood story i know. YOu wouldnt belive how often i tried in the shootout scene with Dutch and Micah on the mountain, to shoot at Dutch first...but always got killed. Tried then Micah same. Got confused, until i realised, i had to wait, until the talk went further. Then i was shocked that Dutch got away, without being killed. Just some minutes before i saw the hint here in this thread, that Dutch get killed in RDR1....so yes.....now it makes sense.

 

 

What also looked so strange is the fact, that nearly all the desert area in the West (looks like 30% of the complete map) was never used in the mainstory. So the game ends officially, even after the 2 Epilog Stories and doesnt let me see 30% of the created map? What they expect.....that i explore the western map now alone without story? To be honest, thats exactly what i am doing now....even found the first small town there. But i fear there will be not much story there.....just some mexican Rogue camps. But hey, isnt that a sign of generosity, that they give me after the story even more land to explore, even after nearly 120 hours of gameplay for me?

Edited December 5, 2019 by X_MasterDave_X

[NightmanCometh96]

I previously completed the game twice on console, so these obviously aren't my first impressions, but I just finished the main story.  

Spoiler

That's The Way It Is still gets me bawling every time, specifically the high honor version. I just can't bring myself to finish the story with low honor; I find Arthur trying to become a better person after his diagnosis to be more effective from a narrative standpoint. Still debating on whether I should start the Epilogue immediately or wait for a proper mod to add John's hair, or at least use a trainer to spawn his NPC model. 

 

I have to agree with a few of the posters above concerning GTA V's story. The lack of character development (dividing 69 missions between 3 protagonists will do that) and the overly obvious, on-the-nose satire left me a bit underwhelmed to say the least (not at all helped by the prioritization of GTAO). The fact that R*'s next game quite literally brought me to tears during its final (main) mission is impressive in that regard. Dialing it back to one protagonist helped wonders (I think the number of missions is similar between V and RDR2 if you don't count the Epilogue). All three of my playthroughs took about a month to complete, and I never touched another game before finishing the story. Arthur is right up there with Niko as one of my favorite R* protagonists, he might even surpass him. The slower, more methodical pacing compared to GTA really helps you to get to know him on a personal level, especially if you take the time to read his journal (something I never did on my console playthroughs). Arthur's journey is your journey, and that just makes the experience all the better. I had a blast with RDR2 when it first came out and I'm still having a blast with it on PC; it definitely reignited my love for R* games going forward.

Edited January 15, 2020 by NightmanCometh96

[GinsengElixir]

3 hours ago, NightmanCometh96 said:

I previously completed the game twice on console, so these obviously aren't my first impressions, but I just finished the main story.  

  Hide contents

That's The Way It Is still gets me bawling every time, specifically the high honor version. I just can't bring myself to finish the story with low honor; I find Arthur trying to become a better person after his diagnosis to be more effective from a narrative standpoint). Still debating on whether I should start the Epilogue immediately or wait for a proper mod to add John's hair, or at least use a trainer to spawn his NPC model. 

 

I have to agree with a few of the posters above concerning GTA V's story. The lack of character development (dividing 69 missions between 3 protagonists will do that) and the overly obvious, on-the-nose satire left me a bit underwhelmed to say the least (not at all helped by the prioritization of GTAO). The fact that R*'s next game quite literally brought me to tears during its final (main) mission is impressive in that regard. Dialing it back to one protagonist helped wonders (I think the number of missions is similar between V and RDR2 if you don't count the Epilogue). All three of my playthroughs took about a month to complete, and I never touched another game before finishing the story. Arthur is right up there with Niko as one of my favorite R* protagonists, he might even surpass him. The slower, more methodical pacing compared to GTA really helps you to get to know him on a personal level, especially if you take the time to read his journal (something I never did on my console playthroughs). Arthur's journey is your journey, and that just makes the experience all the more stronger. I had a blast with RDR2 when it first came out and I'm still having a blast with it on PC; it definitely reignited my love for R* games going forward.

How has your view of the game changed over 3 playthroughs? Is it still fresh?

[NightmanCometh96]

As a whole, yes, I do still find it fresh 3 playthroughs in. I know the story beats very well by now, but I’m continuing to discover new things: items, conversations, mechanics, etc. And I still haven’t tried getting 100% yet. 
 

If there was something that changed for the worse for me, it would have to be the linear mission structure (something that has been a growing problem with R* games in recent years). If you try to venture off the beaten path or change up your strategies too much, you’re almost guaranteed to fail the mission. It doesn’t ruin the game, but I do wish that you had more freedom with how you're able to complete objectives. 

Edited December 6, 2019 by NightmanCometh96

[sorder]

150 hours in the game and I'm not going to stop. Previously, I thought that nothing will surpass the Witcher 3 in the quality of the narrative and I was wrong! The main story and character development is so damn good so that I sometimes think that Arthur is a real person... Bravo Rockstar. This is by far the best game of the generation.

[kubon352]

Yesterday I was roaming in New Austin after completing epilogue. Rockstar made a sh*t move doing nothing for that area. There's so little to do there, I'm wondering why did they even bother bringing it to the game. Few gang hideouts and nothing more interesting.

[RedIndianRobin]

45 minutes ago, Gwozdek said:

Yesterday I was roaming in New Austin after completing epilogue. Rockstar made a sh*t move doing nothing for that area. There's so little to do there, I'm wondering why did they even bother bringing it to the game. Few gang hideouts and nothing more interesting.

Yup. New Austin is a huge disappointment. Feels like they rushed it and added no content just empty map nothing to do. 

 

 

So after more than 200 hours as per the client, I achieved 100% completion:

 

 

SPOILER

Spoiler

 

Edited December 7, 2019 by RedIndianRobin

[X_MasterDave_X]

I ask myself where the last 14% are, after i ended my playthrough after 140 hours? Even walked through nearly all empty New Austin.

 

Is it possible to get to 100% even after main story is completed?

[RedIndianRobin]

10 hours ago, X_MasterDave_X said:

Is it possible to get to 100% even after main story is completed?

Yes you can. If you go to your Pause Menu->Progress->Completion checklist you should see what you need to get for 100% completion. The only "grind" I felt was when I was hunting for the exotic collectibles.

 

Also use GTASeriesVideos for any of your queries.

[seldo]

Got robbed of $700 in St Denis and couldn't even get them back 

This: https://www.reddit.com/r/reddeadredemption/comments/9sxk1w/got_robbed_of_1200_in_st_denis/

 

Also, I was attacked when exiting St Denis... with a gatling.

Time to realise that, I was dead.

I didn't even see who attacked me, since it happened on my side.

Edited December 10, 2019 by seldo

[Barrett_killz]

75 hours in after the Steam release and just went through the endgame. Oh, boy. 
 

Spoiler

Caught a slight cold in real life just about the time Arthur’s sickness was revealed. Sometimes his cough made me cough as well, god dammit.

 

At least, it appears that I got the good ending out of the 4 ones, so that’s a bit comforting.

 

Still got to play through the epilogue. But I’ll definitely do one more playthrough on bad honour at some point in time.
 

f*ck you, Dutch!!111!!11!1!